The present invention relates to an improvement in shoulder straps for carrying bags and packs and is particularly well-suited for use with golf bags. Golf bags have a removable shoulder strap which is adjusted to the body of the wearer, cushioned over the shoulder and attached at spaced ends to the bag. Many golf bags are fairly large and when filled with a set of clubs, balls and additional wearing apparel are relatively heavy. As a player carries his or her bag over the course, the bag tends to rise and fall on the player's shoulder as a result of the player's natural gait. As a result, the weight of the bag and its contents appear to become heavier and heavier, fatiguing the player and often adversely affecting his or her play. Even the smaller light weight golf bags when filled with clubs are sufficiently heavy to fatigue many players during a round of golf.
Shoulder supported bags are also used in other sports such as backpacking and hiking. While the contents of such bags are often lighter than golf clubs, the distances traveled and terrain encountered are frequently more challenging. Without any means for absorbing the shock of the bouncing bag on the carrier's shoulder, the weight of these bags and their contents can again become quite unpleasant. It would be highly desirable to provide a shoulder strap mechanism for golf and other shoulder supported bags that effectively absorbs the shock of the bag and its contents as they repeatedly rise and fall on the carrier's shoulder.
Previous attempts to ease the load of carrying such bags have generally entailed cushioning the shoulder strap with soft padding and widening the strap to increase its surface area. While such strap modifications are beneficial in many applications in that they make the strap more comfortable on the shoulder, they do not address the problem of the uneven pressure applied to the shoulder by such bags while being carried. The heavier the bag and its contents and the more irregular the terrain, the more severe is the bouncing and discomfort resulting therefrom. The present invention not only provides a shoulder strap mechanism which is comfortable against the shoulder but which will also absorb a significant amount of the shock of the bouncing bag and items therein which would otherwise be transmitted directly to the carrier's shoulder.